Rauner: Give government workers union choice

Tuesday

Feb 18, 2014 at 10:22 PMFeb 18, 2014 at 10:22 PM

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner said Tuesday government workers should be free to decide whether they want to join a union. He spoke at a debate in Springfield with the other three Republican candidates for governor.

By Doug Finke and Tobias WallState Capitol Bureau

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner said Tuesday government workers should be free to decide whether they want to join a union.

Speaking at an hourlong debate in Springfield with the other three Republican candidates for governor, Rauner maintained that government unions can have a “corrupting influence” on policy.

“There’s a big difference between a government union boss and private-sector unions,” Rauner said. “It’s when a government union boss has the power with taxpayer-funded union dues to influence politicians through campaign cash, it is a conflict of interest and it is a corrupting influence.”

The result, he said, is taxes increase, spending increases and businesses leave the state, often to the detriment of working-class families.

“I’m not against the existence of government unions, but workers should be free to choose whether to be in a union or not,” he said.

Rauner and the other candidates were responding to a question about whether government unions are “immoral” and what percentage of state workers should be represented by unions in five years. Rauner has aired numerous ads and made statements about “union bosses” having control of state government.

Balance needed

Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale said, “I don’t think unions are inherently bad” while acknowledging that Illinois government has become “incredibly unionized” in recent years. While Rod Blagojevich was governor, thousands of workers in management positions flocked to join unions after going years without pay raises.

Dillard said the way to win concessions from public employee unions is to “meet with them, talk with them, not demonize them.”

Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford said there are supervisory positions in government that need to be exempt from union membership, and the right balance has yet to be achieved.

“To say union bosses are immoral is inappropriate,” he said.

Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington also said a better balance needs to be struck among jobs that should not be part of a union because they are supervisory. However, he blamed the drive to join unions on Gov. Pat Quinn making promises to workers that he failed to deliver.

Brady, Dillard and Rutherford all agreed that during the past few years state jobs have been relocated from Springfield to Chicago, and all of them said jobs should be moved back to Springfield. Rauner said the issue of where government jobs are should hinge on cost and productivity of the workforce.

Expiring tax hike

None of the candidates offered any details of how to make up billions of dollars in lost revenue if the bulk of the state income tax increase is allowed to expire on schedule at the end of the year.

Rauner said the state needs to “reduce spending dramatically,” although the only specific program he mentioned was Medicaid. He said he would appoint a task force to reduce waste and the overall cost of government.

Dillard said he would grow the economy and cut waste in Medicaid, while Brady went a step further and said he wants to end the state income tax entirely. He did not specify areas of the budget to cut.

Rutherford repeated that he wants the tax hike to expire, “but I don’t know what’s going to happen between now and January. Let’s be honest, there may need to be some form of revenue on the table for negotiation.”

Rutherford acknowledged Tuesday that he does not have direct proof that Rauner is behind a lawsuit filed by an ex-employee that accuses Rutherford of sexual harassment and requiring the employee to do political work on state time. Rutherford had said he believed Rauner was behind the issue.

Rutherford also insisted again he wants a private investigative report that he sought released on the incident, but said he can’t release it on the advice of his attorney. Rutherford had said he would release the report once it was completed, but backed off after the ex-employee filed the federal lawsuit.

“I would be better off, I believe, if this report was released,” Rutherford said after Tuesday’s debate.

Rutherford insisted he did not know a lawsuit would be forthcoming when he made the promise to release the report, though he said he would release it even after the suit was filed. Rutherford also said he has not read the report himself nor even a summary of it.

Information

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